Asher: A Personal Blessing

 My middle name is Asher and I've always connected with Moshe's blessing in Devarim 33:24:

"Of Asher he said, The most blessed of children is Asher, he shall find favor with his brothers and he shall immerse in oil his feet.  Iron and cooper are your door bolts, and like the days of your prime so may your old age be."

I actually think that this Torah's translation of "most blessed" is not accurate, but that aside, this is something I really connect to - finding favor with those that I love, and abundance (candidly this is one of my five core values, actually, abundance of everything, "spiritual" and "physical").  

And feeling safe and secure - while I think concerns of these run in the DNA of every Jew at this point, they are especially true for me, not really in the physical sense anymore, but the general anxiety that has particularly affected me, especially as a high-stakes civil rights litigator.  The fact that iron and copper protect me - as my door bolts - is just downright reassuring.

And, of course, physical health - to read in Torah that it is literally possible to feel as healthy and vibrant in old age as I did in my youth (and, honestly, as I do as a 36-year-old) - well, here, the Torah, the ultimate truth, tells us that not only is this possible but it is guaranteed. Amen.

The commentary is helpful here - the point of all this is not to bless Asher only have him live in contentment - the point is to share the abundance, security, and health - and for everyone to live in blessing and return such blessing to Asher as well.

An incredible and inspiring thought headed into the closing verses of Torah.